The title is true.
I no longer have the time or the energy to maintain this fan fiction. When I started this a few months back, I was in a sort of interlude between jobs and departments at my office, where I worked part time hours for full time pay as HQ shuffled me around. This fic was sort of a writing exercise to practice and since I had a lot of free time.
Now that the transfer is complete, I work 8-6 most days and have to take business trips every month or so. Between fitting in time to eat, and time to work out, I no longer have the time to dedicate to this side project. I thank all of you who have supported this small little subsection of a small crossover fandom of two things that I happen to know some things about. I was never crazy about RWBY, nor jumped into its insane fandom, but I happened to know a thing or two about it. I am an avid Warhammer player though, and consume both the lore and tabletop at a wallet emptying rate.
ABOUT THE POWER LEVELS IN THE FIC.
This fic was supposed to be a what-if, from a batshit insane science fantasy, into what I consider a more reasonably powered American Anime-esque show. That being said, I have always believed the characters in RWBY to outclass Space Marines, but not by a massive margin.
Now I know, I know.
If you've seen the Respect Threads for RWBY, it puts the characters at a physics breaking power level, which i felt was not accurate. Sure, they have moments of impossible reflexes and skill, but I have always felt these to be cinematic or humorous choices rather than a depiction of strength. We, the watcher, can see the bullets in RWBY. Even so, I needed to give more Gimp Boy a chance, so I nerfed some characters.
Sue me.
Now for the story.
I came up with the plot in five minutes, and it was intended to be a comedy with some serious aspects and a plotline that would bind the RWBY universe and Warhammer 40k. Our Vindicare, like his brethren in the Imperium, are the bleeding edge of the Imperium, bar the Custodes. They train for a full decade, even with prior experience, and learn enough information that those with not enough "storage" in their brains can straight up overload and die. They are mechanics, doctors, trackers, history buffs, with a minor in Xenos biology and sociology. Assassins do in less than ideal situations such as little air, water, food, high gravity etc.
And this is all as a supplement to their ultimate purpose.
To kill.
This, as you can imagine makes them a tiny bit spastic.
Season One, with Grey as the end, was the familiar colourful world of RWBY seen through the eyes of a borderline autistic and emotionally stunted sniper, who has spent more time as a killer than as a normal child. My main goal in this season was to set power levels, display the equipment of the Vindicare, and poke a little fun at RWBY.
The main arc was based on the Vindicare loosening up as a person, taking baby steps into becoming a person rather than the Emperor's poisoned blades. I tried to show how weird he is from other people's perspectives, though not his own. I set up the Exitus Rifle as an unhealthy obsession rather than just a weapon. Here, I also show the Vindicare's insertion into the criminal element of Vale, meeting up with Torchwick.
I also establish that the Imperium had been there before. More on that later.
It ends with the dock scene, the same as in canon RWBY. The Vindicare does a few morally questionable acts, but since they were not named, it was meant to make the reader feel as the Vindicare did, that the lives he ended were unimportant and inconsequential. I also show part of the Black Ship training the Vindicare receive via flashbacks and dreams.
Exitus Acta Probat.
The ends justify the means.
The second arc was the Beacon life arc, showing the Vindicare beating up his team some more. It was intended to be more relaxed. Vindicare with team JNPR, GRWL, RWBY, and ending with a sudden burst into action courtesy of Ironwood, who by the way, is showing some signs of PTSD in V7 currently.
He shoots his way out.
And this is where I will leave the story as written by me.
What was to be, was the Vindicare landing in the ocean, minus the Exitus, and-
HE. LOSES. HIS. SHIT.
The mask was important piece of gear, but the rifle was a part of him, and losing it was like Yang losing her arm. Naturally, the Vindicare goes to Eversor levels of rage, and begins rampaging through the dragon shaped continent, which, I believe to be where the Grimmlands are. The Grimm fuck him up, and he is brought unconscious to Salem.
It's the lowest point of the story, the hero unarmed and defeated in the lap of the big bad Salem.
He wakes up. The pair talk, Salem trying to show that the two are the same, and the Vindicare denying it like the good brainwashed Assassin he is. After some time, Salem realizes she cannot corrupt him, and leaves him to die via feeding him to a Grimm. Along the way to the dungeon, lead by none other than Arthur Watts, the Vindicare breaks his hands to escape his bindings, kills Watts in a bloody fashion, and then throws himself out of a window to escape.
He survives, barely, and in graphic detail I describe the process of reattaching avulsed bones in his hand, and a partially torn Achilles Tendon. Hungry, and hurt, the Vindicare limps his way to safety, before collapsing again in the wilderness. This time, he falls into a fever dream, and I reveal what happened to him once he reaches Terra. The Black Ship subarc ends with a final firefight.
The Deathworlder survives, but the Vindicare is shot in the process, and begins bleeding out. In the nick of time, the ship arrives on Terra, with a full team of Scions extracting the two. They are separated as they are brought to the Assassinorum temple, with a sad scene where the Deathworlder says his goodbyes.
There is more bad news.
The neural augmentations have to be done sans anesthetic, as with his limited blood flow, and near death state, he would die if he was put under. The Vindicare is tortured to become what he is, and I figuratively and mentally mindfuck with the reader and him, by showing that the new synthetic nerve system grows over the old system, melding until the innate Machine Spirit, the Boy becomes one. Because the Vindicare is awake for this part, he suffers catastrophic memory loss, forgetting lots of things, including his own name. This is also why I never name him in the story, or the Deathworlder, who presumably, would have told his best mate his name.
The Vindicare wakes up in extreme pain which subsides, and he tests his augmentics.
At this point, the Vindicare wakes up in actual reality.
He sprints to the wreck of the ship he crashed, and finds a team of Atlesians who he submits willingly too. He is knocked unconscious during this as Atlas is a massive roid raging penis.
On Terra, the Vindicare is training, testing his new limits, and meeting his new teammates, who are also borderline spastic. The Deathworlder is not in sight, which confuses the Vindicare. They explain the process of training, and how eventually, once their skills were on par, the are taken under the apprenticeship of a Lord Assassin who completes their training. Our Vindicare struggles as he realizes he is only smart in a room full of geniuses. During this time of struggling, the Vindicare nearly breaks and ends his life.
The day before he eats a bullet, he receives a dream which he believes is from the Emperor himself. Rejuvenated, he throws himself into training, rising from the worst Assassin-in-training to a distinct mediocrity, barely making the cut from Assassin to Assassinorum Agent.
During Selection, the Vindicare is brought before a board of Assassins, one from each temple stationed on Terra. They scrutinize him, and he bombs the interview questions. It is long, painful, and awkward to listen to for the Reader. Enter our Vindicare's Lord Assassin, who enters, asks a few questions, and then leaves.
Our Vindicare is fairly certain he failed, but one night, he is kidnapped and brought before the Lord Assassin from earlier, who reveals that he is the Grand Master of the Assassinorum. He is infected with a uncurable illness from a mission against Nurgle cultists, and needs to find a replacement ASAP. Our Vindicare is special, as despite everything, he actually has emotions, just actively suppresses him. Those who have emotions generally don't ever make it to Terra.
I develop this idea earlier in the story, with the emotional suppressants and only his Lord Assassin and him needing them.
By a special decree by the Emperor himself, the Grand Master of the Assassinorum needs to have emotions, "Lest he forgets the soul in his sights."
The Vindicare is astonished, and his true training begins.
The final scene ends with the Vindicare waking up in Atlesian custody, facing a very angry Ironwood. Before he can be tortured again, Ozpin himself shows up, Mortis in hand, and plays the final message on the servo-skull.
Inquisitor Farrow meets Big O, the advisor, with the Inquisitor giving his tech to him in exchange for information. Ozpin then in turn gives it to the kingdom of Mantle, explaining Atlas's greater tech gap. Farrow is however, very suspicious of the planet's nature, and decides to conduct a genetic test of a citizen.
The big reveal?
People in RWBY are actually eldar-human hybrids, explaining their agility, speed, and reaction times, and inclination towards psyker abilities. The planet itself is on a planet with Necron pylons which shield it from the nearby Warp. The Vindicare nods along, disgusted, but not enough to go on a murderous rampage, which apparently, Farrow did.
The Vindicare cracks a joke about how he's not an Eversor.
Ozpin does not find it funny, as Farrow's crashed ship had one on ice. When Farrow went on his Xenophobic purge, the Eversor was thawed, completely fucking up Vale, and killing Ozpin's old incarnation. He is brought down only after all four kingdom's army's mustered together, and managed to force him back into his cryopod. This is also where Amber's life support tech is derived from.
The Volume ends with the Vindicare saying his only goal is to kill Salem. The three eye each other down, and the chapter ends.
Author's Note: Will continue in a part two if you guys want. Sorry about disappointing, but I really no longer have the time. Thanks again, and see you, maybe, if I get another lull in work.